Hundred santhali families living in a dense Jharkhand forest, with no roads connecting them with the district and block headquarter, or bridge to cross the rain fed river during the monsoon did something out of the box. They not only made a kutcha kachcha road but also a 50-feet long bridge to overcome their problems. Their unbelievable work has not just made them earn praises from officials but has also made them promise funds to have proper bridge and road developed.
The road and bridge in question has been made by the villagers of Panchda village that falls in Ango panchayat, around 23kms away from Barkagaon block haedquarters and 53kms away from Hazaribagh town.
Villagers maintained that they had been facing connectivity problems for a long time. Despite managing to travel amid all difficulties, it was getting difficult for them to take pregnant women for medical treatment due to lack of roads or bridges.
Led by one Deepak Karmali, villagers began cutting a pathway, about a fortnight ago. First they made a kutcha road from Panchda village to Jhikhore where the major challenge was to cross a fifty-feet wide rain-fed river. Villagers made a bamboo bridge to cross the river. According to Karmali the determined villagers took four days to construct the road by using spades and shovels. “Villagers worked and made a road and bridge through shramdan,” he said.
Barkagaon block development officer Prakash Kumar Saw said what villagers did is inspiring. “I will ensure a proper road there and will look into the bridge issue also,” he said.
Villager Motilal Manjhi said, “We want better facilities here but officials to people's representatives never cared to ensure that for us. We did what we could without waiting for any action from government”.